hack::OMEGA
by Grey Writer
Summary: Aura has been put into another sleep! Her body was stabbed by Dark Kite, and infected. As the infection slowly spreads, the Eclipse begins... Chap 10 up R&R Your opinions are important!
1. Introduction Sorma

Ok, I haven't written a story in a long time. So, I figured I'd start up again once inspiration took hold. After reading some .hack fanfics, yes, that inspiration came. And here we are. Read and review. Next chapter will be done by the 3rd…even faster if reviews are good. Note: all character names are pronounced as they are spelled, so sound it out… Note 2: I know it is short, but it is only an introduction.

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.hack/OMEGA

Chapter One

Introduction-Sorma

"Steel blades came together. Arrows rained down from the Archers, penetrating the Blue side's armor. Along with the clashing of steel, and screams from those who were killed, you could hear the roar of thunder and flashes of lightning that CC Corp had decided to add on for ambience.

Some of the Red players were instantly PK-ed, and some still went forward. It was something some of you would have enjoyed to witness…or maybe even participate in.

Anyway, the War of the Alphas Event was the beginning or the end of many members' pride. You see, as you would know already, the War of the Alphas Event was the one and only war among the first and strongest players in the game! Hundreds and maybe even a few thousand elder players gathered on that one-day to fight. There wasn't really any prize awarded to the winning side, nor was there a point to the fighting; old players still gathered, nonetheless. Heh, there were so many players on that one day, that CC Corp had to buy a new server to host the battle," the NPC bartender told a group at the counter.

_I_ was in a corner. I cannot tell you what the NPC bartender or the players the NPC was talking to look like since my eyes were fixed on the wall, more specifically…their shadows. I was listening and nothing more. That story did bring up some memories, though, so my mind did wander just a little.

I seem to come to this café a lot. At first, this café seemed pointless. But, once I came in for the first time, and sat down at my chair, I understood why players flocked here. The NPC bartender was obviously programmed to repeat The World's history. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but the café does attract far too many newbies, because of that NPC's stories…

"Hey, when the Blue side won the Event, what did they get for prizes? You said that there really wasn't one, but there _had_ to be one! I mean, come on!" spoke newb shadow number one. He seemed to be a very curious character; that is my opinion since his shadow leaned closer to the NPC when the NPC talked.

A different shadow, newb shadow number two, leaned back in his chair until it was on two legs. "I heard they got nothin', but titles, ya know?"

The bartender NPC's shadow drummed its fingers on the counter, looking at the one who was leaning back in his chair. "Only titles!" It sighed. "You must be really new to The World. Have you not heard of Balmung of the Azure Sky or Orca of the Azure Sea? Those two are the most well known players around, _because_ of their titles."

I shook my head, deciding to speak up. "Those two have lives now. They haven't played in over a decade."

I could tell that the NPC decided to look at me finally. "And it is a shame that they don't. They would be overjoyed to know that their reputations still linger." It now turned back to newb shadow number one. "There were two in that Event that CC Corp decided to give something other than the small amount of money and EXP. They were granted titles. Ikardis the Knight was the top PKer of the Red side. And, finally, Sorma the Winged Knight who was the top PKer of the Blue side. Sorma was named that after he was received wings from the Administration as a bonus."

"Ikardis isn't active anymore," I said, standing from my chair. "Once Sorma led the Blue side into battle, Sorma and Ikardis fought. When Sorma beat Ikardis, winning the War of the Alphas, Ikardis accepted his title, and never logged in again."

As I exited the café, the NPC whispered to newb shadow number one, "Yeah, Sorma is also said to have become a major PKer! He kills new players such as yourself, steals your most valuable items, and then doesn't show up for a while. He apparently stays in the server where all those Mega Monsters are. There is some rumor that he has this gigantic treasure, guarded by one of those Mega Monsters. Just today, they upped the big bounty on Sorma's head. No Bandit will ever reach that high of a bounty, that is for sure. Something that I'm even more sure of is that no Bounty Hunter will ever claim that bounty, either."

I now left the doorway of the Mac Anu Café, hearing enough of the NPC. I have always liked Mac Anu at night. Even more so when it wasn't highly populated like it was during the night. As I walked beside the waterway, my eyes drifted to the starry sky.

I noticed a dead end was coming up when I looked back down, and there it was. A wanted poster was pinned to the wall of one of the buildings. I walked to it, wanting to read it:

**Wanted**: _Sorma the Winged Knight_

**For**: _Killing numerous players in Safe Zones. Killing numerous players below the level of 5. Stealing numerous items. Resisting arrest by the Crimson Knights on several accounts. Player Killing 13 Crimson Knights._

_**Reward**: a job at CC Corp plus maximum EXP_

"They really don't like what I'm doing." And with that, I tore down the poster.


	2. Introduction Ikardis

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 2

Introduction-Ikardis

_I know you have not played The World in a long time, but I have something that you may want to look into. Your long time rival, Sorma the Winged Knight, grows stronger by day. Will you allow that to happen? Will you allow your ENEMY to become better than you? He did win by chance in the War of the Alphas Event, but that does not mean you can't regain your pride._

_Sorma is indeed the strongest at the moment, but when you come and meet me, I will give you a present that will more than provide a challenge to the Winged Knight._

_I await your reply with the utmost interest._

_Signed, a friend_

"Humph, Sorma… This woman doesn't know a thing about me! Sending me the same e-mails over and over…if anything, she is a stalker. But…Sorma did win by chance…and I know I want to know what that present is." The man in his mid twenties looked to a headset hooked up to his computer with various buttons and joysticks surrounding it. Collecting dust was all it had been doing for a few months now. "I can't resist a chance to beat up Sorma!" And with that, he jumped into his chair in front of the computer, and slipped on the headset.

_**Username: **Ikardis_

_**Password:** - - - - - - - - - - -_

_**Server: **Omega_

_Searching………….._

_The World program detected._

_Connecting………………_

_Internet service detected._

_Searching for server: Omega………………_

_Server not detected. Server seems to not exist. Please check your spelling and try again._

The man leaned back in his chair, resting his folded hands on the top of his head. "I knew I had never heard of that server for a reason. The chick was pulling my leg. Man, women stalkers suck. Getting your hopes up, and everything…well, all women do that, but- What is this?"

_Redirecting………_

_Omega server detected. Fill in the blank to continue: "Signed,"_

"Wha'd she do! Lead me to some CC Corp Only server? Bah, women!" His hands had fallen to his lap where his right hand's fingers drummed on his knee. That hand soon went to the mouse, and he brought up the e-mail. "Simple enough, I guess," he whispered to himself, reading it over. He typed in, "a friend."

_Entering the Omega server……_

The Twin Blade took a step away from the Chaos Gate as the rings spiraled up from his body. He looked around at the field he was in, not sure what to expect. "Thousands upon thousands of fields, and this is the one they protect?" he asked out loud. No one is around, so what should he care?

The field was miles of woods that look like they had been hit by an inferno that burned everything in its path. There wasn't any birds chirping, no gentle breezes swooshing, no bright sunlight to warm your face; this wasn't a happy field.

"Guess it is time to explore. The stalker chick said she'd be in the center field." Ikardis shrugged. A blade from each forearm swung forward to their extended positions when he did so; when Ikardis' weapons of choice were resting, they were pointed backwards and aligned with his arms. The blade style was scythe-like, but the blades themselves were far too long and too straight to be for a scythe. Ikardis began hacking very easily through tree trunk and branches. At his level, it wouldn't take much to just punch or kick down each tree. Then again, he was _choosing _to cut down the trees when he could have just walked around each tree, but this was Ikardis…reason was not given to him at birth.

When he got into the center field, he noticed it was, well, a field. The charred trees were cleared out. Grass up to the knees whipped at you, as you would walk. Only now could you even notice the breeze that blew through. It would be a grand sight, but it wasn't anything Ikardis hadn't seen, and it was certainly not worth the secrecy.

"She better come soon. I'm not patient enough for this."

"So I noticed with the trees," spoke the voice of a woman.

Ikardis spun around. His eyes searched in the woods, tree limbs, anywhere that a player could be. "Are you the one who has been sending me the messages?" he called out into the air.

"The same, yes. I called forth your assistance, because Sorma is to become a problem soon."

"Show yourself, so that we can talk!"

"Me being beside you is not important, Knight. Now listen, Sorma defeated you in the War of the Alphas, correct? Do you want to regain your honor or not?"

"Of course I do!" Ikardis pointed one of his blades up into the sky, now knowing that was where the voice was. "But the problem is that I don't know why you want to help a guy like me get rid of a nice, caring, gently guy like Sorma," as this was said, Ikardis wanted to spit, but held it in.

There was a long pause before the woman spoke up. "My reasons are my own," she whispered. It was indeed a whisper, but the great, loud voice still boomed across the field.

"A guy like Sorma tends to seek out hackers, and then PKs them. You a hacker wanting revenge?" With the whole server incident, the voice being a hacker was plausible.

She ignored his questions, changing the subject. "I will give you two weapons of great power to seek out Sorma, and beat him. In return, you listen to the few orders I give you."

The second sentence was tuned out; Ikardis only heard what he wanted. "Simple enough." Once he stopped talking, Ikardis noticed that his blades had begun to glow. The left blade began to glow red while the right blade glowed a dark purple. Letterings of an ancient look to it appeared on the center of each blade, glowing a bright white. Once the purples, reds, and whites stopped emitting from the blades, Ikardis looked shook his head in disappointment. His head flung upwards to the sky. "These are the weapons of great power! My old weapons with a few odd letters engraved?"

"Have more faith in me. The left blade grants you the magic capabilities of a Wavemaster. The right blade is much more to my liking."

"What does the right blade do then?"

"Viral infection. Once you bring down an enemy's Hit Points with the left blade, finish with the right blade, and the enemy will be infected with a virus of my own making. Now, for my part of the bargain."

Ikardis eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"Nothing really. Simply make sure to defeat every enemy with the Infected blade. If you really want to, don't use the Infected blade at all until you get to Sorma. Once you have Sorma on his knees, stab with the right blade. That is all I want."

"There is no fine print to this contract?" Ikardis was suspicious of her. He wasn't ever going to trust her, but he was going to show some respect to her…with hopes that he may get more weapons.

"Do as I ask, and you and I won't have problems in the future."

"Good then! And so day one of Sorma search begins!" The two blades swung back into their rested positions against his forearm, and Ikardis turned to walk back to the Chaos Gate…, but stopped. He had to find one thing out first. His head went back up to the sky. "I hope I don't have to call you 'friend' all the time. Give me a name."

There was hesitation in the woman's tone, but she replied a few moments later with: "They call me Morgonna."


	3. Just a little thieving

Thanks so much for the reviews!

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.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 3

Just a little thieving

The Heavy Blade was in the air, her hair flowing as she leaped. Her massive sword was held behind her head with two hands. Once the monster's head was level with the Heavy Blade's body, she swung the blade forward. The blade entered the head of the monster and split down through the center as she was pulled back down by gravity. The monster disintegrated into particles of data, which floated up into the sky. She smiled towards her female Wavemaster friend. The Heavy Blade rested her weapon on her shoulder, walking over to the other player. "See? That is how things done around here. It will be a little different for you since you're a Wavemaster and all, but you get the idea."

The Wavemaster nodded her head in agreement, holding her staff gently up. "Is there anything else I need to learn about The World before I start on my own?" she asked.

"Hit Points. When your Hit Points reach zero, you die. Your Hit Points are low, Newbie," I said to the Wavemaster in particular. I had my dark blue cloak equipped with the hood over my head, so that they were unable to identify me. My shadow looked like a black ghost on the desert sand. From the interior of the cloak, my left arm reached out to them, two, glass tubes with a cork keeping a green liquid inside being held out. "Items. Potions restore Hit Points."

The Wavemaster turned to the Heavy Blade for approval. Once it was given, she wandered up to me, and took the two Potions from my hand. She speed-walked back to her Heavy Blade companion, and then followed by drinking one potion. She handed the other Potion to the Heavy Blade.

The Heavy Blade drank it also. Once she was done, I watched as the two, tubes disappeared from their hands into data. She looked down at the Wavemaster, and said, "See? There are many older players like him to help you out in The World." The Heavy Blade now looked up to me, a friendly smile greeting me. "Hello there! I'm sorry, but we have no money to give you in return. Would you like an item from the next Dungeon we go to?"

The hood's darkness hid my narrowed eyes. "If the Wavemaster would give me her staff, that will be to my satisfaction."

"My staff? I only just started. I don't have a second to-"

The Heavy Blade cut her off, stepping in front of the Wavemaster with her sword held out in an offensive stance. "I knew you were too nice! A Bandit! You roaches swarm everywhere!"

"A thief?" the Wavemaster asked in disbelief for a moment, but her the tone of her body language quickly changed, for she stood with her staff, ready to cast spells down upon me.

Their resistance did not surprise me. I asked very politely for one simple, replaceable weapon, and they weren't so nice in return. "Feh, those are just players just trying to get in on my action," I whispered, and they did not hear.

The Heavy Blade charged. Her battle cry was more like a squeal. She brought her sword into the air, above her head, jumped up, and then swung down.

In an instant, I had pulled my sword from my sheath, thrown my arm out from under the cloak, and raised the sword to block the Heavy Blade's. The metal came together with a "clang" followed by sparks.

She swung her body around in mid-air, not yet landed from the first attack, bringing the sword to my neck from the left.

But, of course, I blocked it again. She was good, maybe a level 50, but that was only half of maximum level, only half of what I was.

Her feet came down to the sand with a grunt, our sword against each other. She panted heavily; Heavy Bladers have no battle endurance. "Walk away now…Bandit… and I…won't…PK you."

"Your advice was not even considered," I replied to her. I slid my blade off of hers, brought the sword down, and then swung upwards. The sword connected with her chest, going through her skimpy chest plate with ease.

The Heavy Blade seemed to freeze in time as her body became gray toned, and fell to the sand with a heavy, stone-like thump.

Once that happened, lightning struck down from the sky, hitting me hard. When I realized that it was the Wavemaster girl who had used a lightning spell aimed at my shoulder, I looked at that girl like she had awakened a monster inside of me. My two, white wings shot outwards from under my cloak, tossing the cloak behind me. With one flap, I was propelled towards the Wavemaster at great speeds. Before the girl knew it, I stood before her, my blade stuck through her neck.

I could tell her talking feature was now disabled since she obviously tried to talk, but made a choking sound instead of words.

"When you whine about how your weapon was stolen, be sure to mention the name, _Sorma the Winged Knight._" And with that, I pulled my sword from her neck. I quickly grabbed the staff from her possession before it could gray out with the body. I examined it thoroughly. "Haven't gotten a staff in a while," I said to myself simply as if nothing had happened. My wings folded, the cloak rolling back over my shoulders to drape over me. I sheathed my sword, holding the staff under the cloak as not to be seen.

When I exited the desert area and entered the city, I glanced around at the players staring at me. Cloaked players meant that is was just some newb trying to look good…or someone with something to hide; in my case, it was the second, of course.

As I walked the stone streets into the bazaars, I noticed many shops with nothing of interest, until…the corner of my eye caught something shiny. I turned my head to look into the bazaar to the left of me. Pinned onto the wall was an interesting, exotic, gold necklace. Gold accessories were always stat magnifiers, so I wanted it.

I took a step over to the street shop, staring at the necklace, waiting for the NPC shopkeeper to turn his back to look at me.

Once it finally did, the male designed NPC laughed, throwing its hands up into the air. "A customer! You know I haven't had a customer for-"

"I would like to see that gold necklace," I said stiffly, interrupting.

"Not a socializer, eh?" It shrugged. It turned, pulled the necklace off the nail, and placed it on the counter between us.

I held it in my hands examining it. The lace was three, gold separate laces intertwined. Hanging from the lace was a very aerodynamic arrowhead with various weird engravings on it in some language that must be only of The World. It looked to be a speed enhancement. "I will give you a Wavemaster's staff for it."

The shopkeeper NPC went wide-eyed. "Are you serious? Weapons go for 3 times more than small accessories like this!"

I had maybe 40 other Wavemaster staffs in my possession, so this wasn't a big deal. I placed the staff on the counter, and then simply walked away.

I could hear the NPC snicker that he had gotten a good deal.

I walked around the town. Every once in a while, I would sit down in areas where people were talking, hoping to overhear a planned quest for me to barge into. But when those failed me the information I wanted, I wandered more.

Once night came in the field, the field was silent and inactive…except for me, still wandering.

But, then, it happened. The necklace tugged at my neck. I looked down at the necklace, the arrowhead tugging at the lace. When I stood, it tugged more. I walked down the street a little more, watching the arrowhead. The arrowhead soon floated over to the left, tugging in that direction. It wasn't an arrowhead; it was a compass! So, I followed. I turned the corner, and there was a Twin Blade standing before me, the compass tugging harder than ever before falling limp.

"Hello again, Sorma," greeted the Twin Blade, a smirk on his lips.

The cloak hid my bared teeth, anger towards the player before me. Underneath my cloak, my hand rested on my sword. "Ikardis… I assume you want a fight."


	4. Test

To Weaver: yes, they _do _meet early, but who is it to say that it is the end..? I plan to have at the very least around 15 chapters before I decide to end this fanfic, so it is safe to say that this is not the end…

Note: for some reason, I think this chapter really sucks, but I don't know why. I apologize if you thinkt he same. School starts tomorrow, so maybe it is stress. Or, maybe I just wanted to get this chapter over with, and get on to the next chapter (which I promise will be much better than this one).

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 4

Test

"Sorma! Ol' Winged One! Where are you!" Ikardis called with his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify the range of his call.

A hooded figure appeared around fifty feet away. White wings emerged from the cloak, and the cloak fell off. The cloak and hood gone, you could see the man who had been hidden. He had white hair, gray eyes, and wore a set of dark blue armor. The man unsheathed his sword, going into a battle stance.

"Sorma! So good of you to come! I've been waiting so long for this."

Sorma smirked, remaining silent.

"Silent, strong Sorma. Still the same." Ikardis laughed. His scythe blades swung forward, locking in place. Ikardis charged at top speed. He was a blur, which streaked at Sorma. When the blur stopped, Ikardis' blade was in Sorma's head. When he pulled his blade from Sorma's head, Sorma shattered into data. "He didn't gray out… Someone is playing games with me!"

"The illusion was a test," spoke the woman's voice from the sky.

"Morgonna, you made a fool outta me! I hate that!"

"I apologize my Knight. I just had to make sure that you wouldn't hesitate to destroy our enemy."

"I'll forget this annoyance, so it doesn't damper our relationship, eh?"

"The only thing that would damper our _relationship_ is you failing to keep up your part of the bargain."

Ikardis snorted. "Have more faith! I couldn't fail if I tried!"

Morgonna paused. "You may want to turn around."

"Wha-" Ikardis jumped out of the way, seeing the shadow of something large behind him, and a gigantic claw slammed down where he had been. He tumbled to the desert sand. When he stood, Ikardis examined the monster that chose to attack him.

A jellyfish. It stood fifteen feet into the air on each tentacle. The ends of the tentacles were equipped with crab claws. Sand poured off the jellyfish's flat pancake top; it had just unburied itself. It was red as if it was constantly sunburned. The sound it made was a loud, clicking sound.

"Have fun," Morgonna said to him, now taking her leave.

"I will…as always." His weapons were still ready. Ikardis looked down at his left blade and then his right blade, remembering each blade's ability. It was time for him to give these a test run.

The jellyfish swung a claw downwards from the air, the liquid arm shaking slightly. The claw hit something invisible and hard.

Ikardis was pointing his left blade up at where the claw was. From the point of his blade, a red aura of energy had formed a shield.

The jellyfish swung more claws at the shield, but all it did was make a loud crashing sound with each hit.

Ikardis laughed at the monster's attempts to get him. "So, it works!"

But, with one last blow from the jellyfish, the shield cracked and shattered. The claw was a complete hit.

Ikardis was sent skidding across the sand.

The jellyfish jumped across the land to where Ikardis lye. Its claw now shot downwards into Ikardis.

Ikardis choked as his Hit Points were reduced. He pointed the magic blade at the jellyfish again.

Lightning came down from the sky. It struck down upon the jellyfish's top, shocking it. It was now paralyzed for a few moments.

Ikardis got to his feet. He jumped twenty feet into the air, and landed where the lightning had struck. He furiously swiped at that area with both blades.

The jellyfish squealed in pain

Ikardis' right blade began to glow its recent dark purple as it was thrust into the jellyfish's back. The blade pulsed.

The jellyfish's squealing immediately stopped as it was numbed. Black lines moved out from the virus blade's wound.

Ikardis jumped to the sand to watch Morgonna's prize weapon in action.

The veins of the jellyfish glowed in its body a dark purple before fading to black. The virus was moving through the veins obviously. The jellyfish did not move; the paralysis effect with the virus effect seemed to make the paralysis last longer. Once all veins were black, the jellyfish's red color became black also. The jellyfish faded out of sight.

Ikardis' eyes narrowed upon the spot where the monster had been. "That was it? That was it! How lame!"

"Please, stop it!" yelled a voice. It wasn't Morgonna's, but a much younger female voice.

Ikardis' weapons flipped back into their resting positions against his forearms as he turned. "Why should I?" he asked the girl.

The girl's favorite color seemed to be white. Hair, clothes, skin, all white; her eyes were blue, but whatever. "You make Morgonna stronger with each infection! You only add to her army! You must stop."

"Army? She has no use for an army! She only wants a friend of mine dead."

"You don't understand, no, you don't understand! Morgonna is-"

"I will PK my friend, and then never talk to the chick again."

"If you don't stop, it may be the end of The World!"

Ikardis smirked at her. "You are Aura, aren't you? Morgonna warned me of some little girl's insanity. Wow, didn't expect you to be this insane! Killing Sorma does not mean the end of The World, it means the rebirth of my honor!"

"A man who works for evil has no honor!"

"A little girl who insults me will have no tongue!"

Aura took a step back, fear taking hold for a few seconds. "Please, give back the two Weapons of the Eclipse before you start the End!"

"Weapons of the Eclipse? Man, you need help," Ikardis said with a laugh.

Aura's eyes widened. "I can see that my words mean nothing to you." She sighed. "I will have to call forth my friends…"

"What you going to gang up on little ol' me?"

Aura stuck out her tongue before fading away into light and disappearing.

"Man, now I'm alone again." Ikardis looked around, stomping his foot. He looked out at the city separated from the desert. He looked down at his leather, Twin Blade armor, which wrapped around the top of his chest. "My armor _is_ out of date. And I _do_ have some money to get rid of." He shrugged, running towards the town.

About an hour later, Ikardis took his steps away from a bazaar with his new leather equipped. It really wasn't any different, just a darker brown meaning more strength. I sighed, turned the corner of a building, and there he was. I smirked, and said, "Hello again, Sorma."

"Ikardis… I assume you want a fight," he replied.


	5. Reunited

Note:

If the readers have not figured it out, I do one chapter of Sorma, then one chapter of Ikardis (except on the few chapters when they are together, like this one). On Sorma's chapters, it is written from his point of view. On Ikardis' chapters, it is written as a regular narrative. As I hope I have said before, I'm in the process of finding my particular writing style using this story; in case you want my opinion, I think I do best on point of views.

I hope that covers all confusion.

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.hack/OMEGA

Chapter five

Reunited

"A fight? Why would I want to fight you! You're just some newb."

"Don't play games with me, Ikardis. I am not one for such pointless things."

"Fine! Fine. Anyway, enough of this chitting and chatting. I want to begin the beating and battling." Ikardis' blades swung forward, locking in place.

I took note of the text engraved into his blades. It matched my necklace's. Does that mean that his weapons are somehow related with this obvious abnormal item in my possession? Well, I have no time for thinking about such matters at the moment.

"I don't know why you have suddenly come back to playing The World, but don't think I've not kept up with my training without you around to challenge me." I pulled my cloak off, tossing it to the right of me; there was no use in keeping my identity safe at this moment in time. The small amount of star and moonlight reflected off my dark blue armor, and soon reflected off my sword blade when I unsheathed it. I held the sword vertically in front of me.

"Glad to hear that." He ran to the wall, ran up it, jumped off of it, and fell down upon me with both blades of his crossed.

I swung my sword up, blocking the attack. I pushed his weight away from me, followed by a slash to his chest before he was too far away.

The leather straps on Ikardis' chest snapped as the blade passed through them, and they hit the ground along with his feet as he landed. He took one step forward. "You've actually gotten stronger." His pupils shrank. "I can't believe it!" he yelled as he charged.

"And you have grown slow." I charged at him also. I stopped to the side of him when I was near, bringing my knee to his stomach.

Ikardis gagged and fell to the ground, coughing more.

"Feel free to die when you've had enough," shouted I to him, seeing that he was probably at half his total Hit Points already.

"And...give…up?" Ikardis answered between coughs. The laughter was quiet at first, and then he swung his head up to laugh at the sky. "You're up there, I know you are! You gave me these damn weapons with the promise of beating Sorma! You said that I would be able to do it! But I can't! I can't! It is all your fault, Morgonna!" Ikardis struggled to stand, his fingers twitching. He cracked his neck when he flipped it to the side. "Do you hear me, Woman! I need more power! More, more, and even more!"

I stood there, sword still cautiously held in front of me. Ikardis seemed to have gone insane. He was talking to the sky now…yeah, that was my definition of insane.

Much to Ikardis' dislike, the voice from the sky did not answer him.

"Morgonna!"

No answer.

I had heard enough of this. My wings spread open. With one, hard flap, I sent a hard wind towards Ikardis.

Ikardis was thrown into a wall. He slid down, getting into a sitting position. He smiled insanely. "I can do that, too!" He pointed the left blade at me, and it began to glow red.

I was then thrown into another wall by some strong gust. I grunted when I stood, recovering from the off guard attack. "You cast a spell. Only Wavemasters can cast spells. How did you-" My eyes widened. I looked down at the blade in my stomach; it was the left blade, now pulsing red.

There was…pain. Pain, I could feel it. As if I had really been stabbed, I felt the pain in the real world. I don't know why, I don't know how, but at that moment, when the blade entered my body, I could feel that horrid pain.

My eyelids grew heavy. I could feel my body grow limp. The darkness was all I could see; or rather not see. I heard my body collapse.

That thump I heard was followed by the cries of Ikardis. "What! What is a monster doing here!" Long pause with various grunts here and clashing metals there. "I can't harm it! Leave me alone! I don't want to die! Call it off, Girl, call if off!"

"After you hurt Sorma? Ha, do you really think that will happen?"

I heard the Chaos Gate being activated.

"The jerk left! Ugh!" She paused. "Mana, help me get Sorma to the caves."

There was darkness and complete silence now.

I don't know when it was that I woke up, but I think it was around to an hour.

I yanked myself up, trying to figure out where I was. It was my hideout. I jumped to my feet, getting my sword into my hand quickly.

Oil lamps, which never go out, light the cave room. Weapons and items of all kinds are untidily thrown into one massive pile. There areas where there was a gap of the items and weapons were filled with gold pieces. This was my treasure.

"That was some mess you got yourself into with Ikardis." The woman stepped out. Her white cloak covered her body with the hood down. A red streak was on her neck. Her light green hair hung down to her sides. Her staff was held gently in her hand; the pole of the staff was white, the end was a fork with the center tooth longer than the other two. The fork part was the one pointing up to the ceiling with a purple gem floating above the center tooth. It was Muru…

"And what are you doing here?" I asked her. An ex-friend is not supposed to show up out of the blue.

She looked at me with burgundy eyes. "I summoned a monster and saved you from being PKed."

"I don't think my last words were 'Please, save me.'"

"You don't like my company, I see. I remember when you used to."

"I don't talk to hackers anymore." I turned my back on her. She was stabbing a nerve, which had been long forgotten.

Knowing her, Muru was looking at the ground. "Aura was wrong. Coming to you for help was a mistake."

She still knew how to spark my curiosity. "My services are needed?"

"One of the Legendary players has gone to challenge Ikardis."

I looked over my shoulder at her. "Why does it matter?"

"I only need to mention one name. Kite."

I now turned to her. "The one Balmung always talked to us about?" I asked, my teeth baring slightly.

"Yes."

I eased up a little. "Kite can handle himself."

"You experienced it yourself. Ikardis is unbeatable. Kite is in danger."


	6. Possessor of the Twilight Bracelet

Weaver, thank you for your reviews.

But I'd really like whatever two cents everyone else has.

Oh, and on a side note: I do not know what Kite's personality is like, so forgive me if it is way off.

* * *

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 6

Possessor of the Twilight Bracelet

The girl jumped down from the rooftop. She turned to Sorma's body, and then looked at Ikardis with furious eyes.

Ikardis' blades were still ready to kill. He looked at Muru with insanity still within him. "Didn't think she would ever show up again," Ikardis whispered to himself.

Muru raised the staff into the air. And then tapped the end of the white staff against the ground. There was a single "ping" like someone hit some gigantic xylophone.

A pillar of red light came down from the sky in front of Muru. Out from the pillar, stepped out a living suit of knight's armor. There was a metallic sound, which came with each step of the creature as it stepped out from the pillar and walked towards Ikardis. The silver suit with a red, flowing cape behind it held a sword with a blade far too heavy for any normal player to wield. Yes, it was around thirteen feet tall; yes, this was not a player.

Ikardis' face went frightened for a moment. "What! What is a monster doing here!" he yelled. This town had a monster block on it, so this would have been surprising to any player. "Just means I'll have to kill it then," he whispered. Using the speed only a Twin Blade could have, it got behind the knight. It jumped up onto the knight's shoulders, swinging both blades at the knight's shoulders and head.

The knight made no effort to stop Ikardis, for the blades simply sparked off its armor, dealing no damage; it just simply continued to take its steps forward.

Ikardis jumped off of the knight, taking several steps away from it. Fear had completely taken over.

The knight slowly continued on its pace towards Ikardis.

He turned to run, and then tripped. Landing on his face, Ikardis quickly sat up to see the knight. "I can't harm it! Leave me alone! I don't want to die! Call it off, Girl, call if off!" He held out his hands as the knight raised the massive sword above Ikardis rather clumsily.

Muru's face was still angry, her staff held tightly by her side. "After you hurt Sorma? Ha, do you really think that will happen?"

The knight swung the sword down, which would have instantly killed Ikardis, but the blade hit the ground.

Ikardis had gated out.

He appeared in the field again where he had first met Morgonna. He was still on the ground, hands held out in defense. Once the fear disappeared, surprise replaced it.

"I gated you out, and took you here," spoke Morgonna. "You aren't yet able to kill something unbeatable."

Ikardis quickly jumped to his feet. He brushed himself off, trying to regain his dignity. "Yet?" he asked rather squeakily. "What are you talking about? I am done with you, Stalker Chick. I beat Sorma. And now I can be on my merry way."

"You are not finished with me or Sorma."

"And why is that?" Ikardis' eyebrow rose.

"You did not stab Sorma with the Blade of Infection. You did not keep up with your part of the bargain."

"Psh! As if that matters. I beat Sorma! That is all I care for. You being picky about which blade I use is not important." He smiled impishly. "I do like the weapons, though, so I'll keep those. Buh-bye." There was an error sound that rang trough the field. Surprise came over Ikardis' expression again.

"I have turned off the gate out feature," said Morgonna.

"What…are…you?"

"You will continue to obey me, my Knight. Until you kill Sorma _with_ the Blade of Infection, you won't be able to gate out."

"You think you are so smart, but I'll simply just take off my headset." He stuck his tongue out. There was a pause, Ikardis stricken by more shock than any of the other previous times. "I can't…feel myself. Why can't I move in the real world! Morgonna, tell me now!"

"This is the curse you must live with. This quarrel with Sorma is no longer about honor, my Knight, it is about your _life_." Laughter followed her words.

Tears, actual tears came down from Ikardis' eyes. His face went to the ground. Ikardis had been defeated.

Morgonna's laughter soon quieted. "I have a small task for you to do. A Legendary player approaches. I assume I don't have to explain what must be done," Morgonna said this with annoyance in her voice.

A Twin Blade with mainly orange clothing equipped exited the forest with his twin knives unsheathed. He glared at Ikardis. "Is this who I'm supposed to fight?" His eyes now went to the sky. "Morgonna, you could have done better."

Ikardis swung his magic blade in the general direction of Kite, knowing full well that Kite was not in distance. Instead of hitting Kite, a small wave of ice ran across the ground at him.

Kite rolled out of the way. With amazing speed, Kite was beside Ikardis. He swung a knife.

Ikardis swung the left blade.

Kite's blade entered Ikardis' shoulder while Ikardis' blade entered Kite's side.

Ikardis felt pain, pain that he could feel, because he was now part of The World. But, this pain was slight due to an adrenaline rush.

Kite jumped away. "Another critical hit, and I'm done for," Kite whispered. He smirked at his own ignorance. "I knew I should have just listened to Aura." Kite pointed his right hand at Ikardis. The bracelet there began to glow. From the bracelet, much like a flower, petals of light surrounded the bracelet and bloomed to a full flower. "Time to listen. Maximum Data Drain!" The petals glowed brighter, and a beam of pure light shot towards Ikardis.

The beam came at Ikardis. It hit him dead on.

Once Kite felt that it was time to stop, he did. The beam stopped. The petals did not go away, but their light did dim down. Kite gasped.

Where Ikardis had been was a sphere of light; it was a sphere of the Data Drain beam. From the top of the sphere broke out a blade glowing purple. The sphere of energy flickered before returning to its beam form, and shot at the blade and disappeared. Once the entire sphere was gone, Ikardis stood there. Ikardis had his head to the ground again, tears falling to the ground.

Kite stuffed his surprise down deep, and then took this moment to attack. He appeared behind Ikardis, attempting to stab Ikardis' neck with both knife blades. It connected.

The blades entered Ikardis' neck. Ikardis stood there as if it did not happen. He spoke softly to himself: "For. Me. To. Live. You. Must. Die."

Kite choked as the purple blade from before went into his head. Kite stumbled back, and soon fell to the ground. The bracelet's petals disappeared. Like the jellyfish before, Kite's veins began to glow purple, but soon faded into black. Kite's skin soon became black, his clothing dark purple. Dark Kite slowly stumbled to its feet. It then faded away.

Left where Kite had been was the bracelet. It disintegrated into data. The data traveled to Ikardis' right wrist, reforming into the bracelet there.

The Blade of Infection pulsed, and a vibration went down Ikardis' right arm to the bracelet.

The bracelet's gold coating was replaced with a black one.

Ikardis stared at his new bracelet; the Twilight Bracelet was to now be known as the Eclipse Bracelet.

Morgonna laughed aloud; it was an evil laughter…


	7. Winged Knight of the Twilight

Weaver: Kite's only purpose in this story was to fork over the Bracelet. But, there is a possibility of having Balmung and Helba showing up later on, but I haven't thought far enough to really know if or when they'll show up. As for all the other .hack characters, I doubt they will show up.

* * *

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 7

Winged Knight of Twilight

"Ikardis!" I shouted. I hadn't paid attention to the grass field, nor the woman's laughter from the sky. Ikardis had just killed a Legendary player, Kite, and that was what was important to me.

Ikardis looked away from the bracelet, allowing the bracelet's arm to fall to his side. He turned to me. What was this new look that he gave me? It was a look that I couldn't explain. It was a look that…a murder gives before his kill. I really can't explain it, but it was there, shown to me.

I ignored this look, focusing on the problem. "I see now that I cannot go easy on you any longer." My pair of wings unfolded as I pulled my sword from my sheath. I held the sword lightly, the tip of the blade lightly touching the grass.

Muru stepped in front of me, holding her staff tightly. She obviously wanted to take the first shot.

"Muru…"

She noted my tone, and stepped back.

Last time, I did not try my hardest to kill Ikardis. Last time, I did not try at all. Last time, he won. Last time, I lost. This time, I win. My wings slowly flapped, and I hovered above the ground. I rocketed towards Ikardis, spiraling in the process. I watched gold rings spiral around me when my blade was a foot away from Ikardis. My blade entered a wall instead, cracks forming around the entry spot. I folded my wings, now hanging from my sword. I dropped three feet to the ground, leaving my sword in the wall. I looked to Muru for answers.

"Welcome to the Dungeon of Aura."

"Take me back to that field!"

"I did not use Forced Gate Out on you; I want to see Ikardis die just as much as you do. It was Aura who did it." She shook her head to the left.

How could I have not seen her? She must have just appeared there. The white-gowned girl grimly frowned to me, shaking her head. "I can't have you die on me."

I grabbed her up by the necking of her gown. "Take me back right now!"

The girl calmly replied, "Why don't you just Log Out and then use the Last Field option?"

I threw her to the ground. Golden rings did not take me away. "What is this?"

"When you were stabbed with Ikardis' weapon, you became a part of The World," said Muru, folding her arms.

"And that means?"

"Your body in the real world is in the hospital. You are in a coma right now," answered the gowned girl as she stood from the ground.

I blinked a few times, giving the girl a look. I took off my headset…or rather tried to. I tried to do anything in the real world, but there was no luck. This explained the pain when Ikardis' weapon connected. "You're serious…"

"Kite now has the same problem." Muru sighed as she spoke. She sat down on a large pile of dirt.

"The difference is that since Kite was stabbed with the Blade of Infection, he is not free-willed in The World like you, Sorma. He is under the control of Morgonna, adding one more minion to an army that will soon come."

I spun around to look to Muru. "How long did you know that I was stuck here?" I yelled. She hadn't told me. But, I guess I can't expect anything of a former friend.

"I'm sorry," she said and her eyes went to the ground with her head following. "Kite was meant to kill Ikardis. When Ikardis dies, you will wake up from the coma, and be able to Log Out. But, we underestimated the abilities of the Weapons of Eclipse. They absorbed the Data Drain attack! It just…no, there was no way Kite could have won."

"I see." Yes, I was being calm about it, but inside…I was thrashing.

Aura would have smiled at my maturity, but she had more bad news to give me. "Kite has failed. It is time for you to step up, and realize that you must fight Ikardis for a different reason. You must kill Ikardis for Kite's life _and_ your own."

Having some time to think about it, Ikardis is pretty much invincible…as much as I disliked admitting it. "And how do you presume I do this?"

I happened to glance over to Muru, and noticed that a smirk had appeared when I asked that. She drummed her fingers on the mound of dirt she sat on. "Is it time?"

Aura nodded.

Muru stood, using her staff for support. Then, she tapped the dirt mound with the fork of her staff.

The dirt separated from the center of the mound, revealing a gold chest. These chests were often used for rare items, so I already had a good idea what it was.

"A present from me," Aura said, tilting her head with a smile. "You just need to use the key."

My necklace, the one that led me to Ikardis originally, came alive again. It tugged towards the chest; it was at that moment that I knew it was planned for me to get this item; it was at that moment that I knew that I had been the back-up plan all along. I took one step forward. The arrow of the necklace shot a thin beam of light towards the keyhole of the chest. The necklace fell dead again.

The door of the chest swung backwards. For a second, nothing happened. But then, a small, but powerful tornado rose up from the interior of the chest. Dust made the twister visible.

I knelt to the ground to keep myself from flying in, Muru propped herself with her staff, Aura was completely unaffected.

My hair kept on whacking me in the face. I could feel the dirt being sucked from under my hands. I could feel the dirt…yes, The World _was_ real to me now. I heard the rattling of something, and then looked up.

My sword rattled against the wall. It was slowly being pulled out. Once the blade exited the wall fully, it did many spins in the air as it sped towards the twister. With my sword's entrance into the tornado, the chest slammed closed, stopping the tornado.

I got to my feet. "And the point of that was?"

The chest slowly swung open again. From the chest came a dragon of white light. It was almost spirit-like. It stared at me, and I returned the stare. Without any notice, it launched itself at me in a white streak.

On instinct, I punched the dragon in the face with a grunt.

The dragon of white light split into two around my fist, and then rejoined together. The dragon coiled around me tightly, restricting all my breath out and maybe breaking some bones. Its mouth opened with an ear-piercing roar, which echoed through the dungeon, and then proceeded to bite my neck. It seemed to swallow a chunk, and then reeled back, entering my body from the wound. Once the light dragon's tail caught up and entered through my neck, the wound sealed itself up somehow.

I patted myself down, waiting for something to happen. But, finally, all the pain that hadn't been felt before now caught up in one gigantic, long burst. I fell to me knees, barely able to keep my eyes open, but I refused to go unconscious. All this pain…for something I don't yet know what was annoying. And then, there was this intense heat within my body. I did not understand what it was, but for whatever reason, I jumped to my feet, despite the intense pain.

Data collected around my hands, forearms, feet, and forelegs. The data then transformed into gauntlets and boots. The gauntlets were claw-like on the finger parts, while the boots were claw-like on the toes. The gauntlets and boots were gold, but decided to fade to a dark blue to match my other armor. I made a fist with my sharp fingers, and a sword appeared within it. The blade of this new sword was maybe five feet in length. The blade exited the engraved dragon's open mouth, and then the back of the head narrowed down to the handle in which I held.

I smirked. "Hm, looks fun." I then went back to my knees, blacking out when I hit the ground; the pain had intensified to the point of me no longer being able to stand it.

Aura smiled down at me. "Behold. The wielder of the Claws and Fang of the Twilight Dragon, the Winged Knight of the Twilight."


	8. Reaper Speaks

I know that the Humor .hack fanfics are the only ones who get a lot of reviews, but come on, folks! I want to hear your opinions.

Short chapter, I know…

* * *

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 8

Reaper Speaks

_Go to Forgotten Watered Wasteland._

That was all the message said. But, it didn't matter; Ikardis still followed it. Morgonna's company was not wanted by Ikardis any longer…ever since she made him a part of The World. When he entered the field Forgotten Watered Wasteland, Ikardis tilted his head.

The sky was filled with ash. Bones, animal and human alike, blanketed the ground. You couldn't see the ground underneath the bones; the bone blanket was that thick. This ground of bones and ashy sky was what the field was, and went on for miles.

But, there was one thing that didn't fit in with the field. A lake. Right there was a lake. It had no bones in it, but instead, the lakebed was filled with pebbles. The water had no ash, but was the clearest anyone could ever want. Its only imperfection was the gray surface from the gray sky.

A long, curved blade cut open a gash into the water from what seemed underneath the water. But, it was indeed a gash, and not a blade just jutting out from the water. Water poured into the gash while _it_ rose out. A cloaked skeleton rose from the gash, a scythe with a twelve-foot long blade resting over its shoulder. The wraith spoke, "Ikardis…" It was not words, but rather hisses; snake-like screeches.

"Are you the one who messaged me?"

"The same…"

"What do ya want with me?

"To warn you…. Danger comes…"

"How many insane people must I deal with?"

The wraith's eye sockets had a red pupil flicker on like lights. "I am Reaper, keeper of old, new, and now… I have chosen to speak to you for your own good…"

"And what about?"

"Those blades…" Reaper vanished, reappearing beside Ikardis. It drummed its skeletal fingers on the Infection blade. "If you continue to use these two, you risk your own life… Give them back… Give them back…"

Ikardis slapped the hand away from his weapon, and took two steps back out of Reaper's reach. "And give up the key to being the strongest player of The World? Ha! As if, man."

"Do you want to be held responsible for the death of every player?"

"Death isn't real. Everyone will come back, so it isn't a big deal if I kill everyone."

"For you, death is real… You are part of The World… Pain, you feel…food, you taste…sights, you truly see…death… Death for you is death… And, if Morgonna has her way, it will be the same way for every player…"

"Morgonna doesn't have that type of power."

"When she has Sorma, she will…"

"Sorma? He wouldn't work with Morgonna if his mother told him."

The red pupils of Reaper's grew larger in size. "You still don't know…" Reaper's teeth chattered together as it let out a laugh. "Morgonna doesn't want you… Morgonna doesn't want second best… You are a tool… Once you infect Sorma, you will be discarded… You will be tossed into the bowels of The World…like I was… Once Sorma is hers, Morgonna will announce her war… The War of the Omegas! Morgonna, and her army of Infected players and monsters will be led by Sorma into battle against all players of The World…"

Ikardis only picked up on the part important to him. "What do you mean by discarded?"

Reaper's cloak disintegrated into particles of data. The skeleton had a purple orb floating there in the rib cage where the heart should be; the orb pumped purple blood through Reaper's veins, which strangled each bone. "You will become Fragmented… You will be dissolved into the lowest of The World's scum… We who are Fragmented manage all data…" Reaper looked down at its chest. "I was once a toy of Morgonna's… She gave me the Scythe of the Eclipse, and then made me a NPC… I had a family… I was getting married… I did not deserve this… I did not deserve this! You who had life does not deserve this! Give them back! Give the weapons back! Do not kill Sorma! Do not kill Sorma…"

Insanity strangled Ikardis' brain now. He was reduced to his knees, cowering. "This can't be happening… Why me? Why…why did I have to accept her offer? I don't want this… I want to see my friends again… Why can't I leave this game! I have no options… I have no choices… There is no way to fix this…"

"For the well-being of The World, you must give up your life to Sorma… Sorma's weapons are the only ones capable of breaking through the shields your weapons sometimes randomly throw up…"

"But then, I will die!"

"It is the better of two evils. Sacrifice yourself, or be responsible for the death of millions…"

Ikardis sniffled. He stood slowly, tears drowning the bones below him. Ikardis gated out.


	9. I remember

Be prepared for a long chapter…this is the most important chapter yet. But, don't be fooled, this chapter is far from the last one…

Enjoy.

* * *

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 9

I remember…

"Ikardis has the Horn and other Fang of the Twilight Dragon, then?" I asked with my head pointed to the ground, thinking. I sat there on the ground with my knees nearly pulled up to my chest, each wrist resting on a knee. I was still recovering from the collapse an hour ago.

Aura nodded to me. "The Horn is the one that Infects players. The other Fang is identical to yours; it casts magic. His items have been corrupted by Morgonna, and changed into the Weapons of the Eclipse. If you take his weapons, they will be purified. But, if Ikardis gets your weapons, they will be infected, and that is when things get much worse."

"No. If Morgonna's plans go through as wanted, and she infects Sorma, and Sorma has possession of all the Twilight Dragon's items, _then_ it will be worse." Muru stood. "Time for me to get to work. I'll see you two later." Her head turned to me slightly. "Glad to see you again." Three, golden rings circled around her before her body disappeared; Muru logged out.

Aura looked to me now, a smile showing; smiling was definitely something that suited this child more than grim frowning. "She really likes playing with you."

"From an outlaw player to a some hero; yeah, figures that people would be attracted to such things." My wrists fell from the tops of my knees to the ground to help me stand. "I'm going into town. Things should get interesting soon, and I have to make sure the innocent don't get into this."

"You can't go into town with things like those showing!" Aura stated, pointing to the Twilight Dragon's Claws and Fang. She hopped over to where Muru had been, picked up my cloak, and then galloped over. "Muru told me that she gave you this cloak when you two were friends…that is why your cloak and her cloak are so alike."

I snatched the article of player clothing away, put it on, pulled the hood over my head, and then gated out.

I walked quietly and slowly down the streets of Mac Anu. The streets were crowded, but easily able to walk around in. I weaved in and out of groups and clusters of players until the Mac Anu Café was reached. I pushed through the saloon doors, and entered; the room got silent as I entered.

The same, annoying NPC behind the counter greeted me with a wave. "Hey, Drifter! Where've you been lately?"

"Around." I sat down in my usual corner table. I folded my arms, and waited for the information to float through the air again. As always, I was the only non-newb in here; thus, the newbs stared at me with curiosity and great interest.

"Yeah, he killed two players! One was a high level that was training a new player. Then, he stole the new player's Wavemaster staff," told a red headed newb to the group surrounding her.

Everything was about me in here. I guess it made sense since the newbs would be killed by me, and then would come here to warn the next newb.

The saloon-like doors were kicked open by two feet; the doors fell off their digital hinges. Two players, identical twins, entered. Each 3 foot tall player carried a halberd twice their size with ease. They wore a red robe, which shook with each step. Their blue, spiky hair stuck up vertically with one strand down across their right eyes.

"Yo, newbs! Who wants to be defeated by the two strongest players in the game!" one of the twins asked with a large grin, holding a fist up as if he had triumphed already.

The other twin twirled his halberd in the air before pointing the lightweight axe blade at the group clustered at the counter. "Yeah, who?"

The look of fear of the newbs faces changed at the sight of the two; they turned back to the NPC behind the counter. They sighed, some laughing. "It is just the Pigeon Twins again," said one of the people in the group.

"Who said that! Come on! Let's take this outside!" shouted the twin that had spun the halberd before.

"We're the Phoenix Twins, got that?"

I resisted in joining the others in hysterical laughter; I may have been tempted to PK the two, but that was resisted also. Newbs were not only odd, but also stupid… I pulled my hood over my head a little more, the shadow on my face darkening.

The group bursted out into laughter and mocking the "Phoenix Twins." "You two haven't killed anyone!" "I prefer the Pigeon Twins…" "Ha, you two have gotten PKed thirty-seven times! It shows in your stats." "Yeah, why would we want to fight someone that sucks even more at fighting than us newbs!"

I did a stat scan on the twins. The group was right. They were level five Long Arms, which had gotten into forty-eight battles. Thirty-seven times they had lost; the other eleven times they ran away from battles. Yes, even for newbs they weren't the best players.

"Oh, yeah? We…let those players win those battles, so that they could get experience! They are friends of ours!"

"Sure you did. Admit it, you two suck," replied one of the group newbs.

One of the twins shouted something to the group that I won't repeat to you; cursing is too distasteful for me to bother.

The group quieted. And then, a sword blade lunged at the twin that had cursed.

I jumped from my seat to the players. My hand shot out at the blade; the Claw of the Twilight Dragon equipped on that hand was a dark blue streak, which grasped the blade tightly, stopping it before it reached the cursing twin's throat. Unknown to me, I tightened my grip on the sword, and the area of the blade that I was holding onto shattered. My hand retreated back under my cloak. My shadowed eyes went to the player who had attacked. "The two of them are protected under the Safe New Player rule. No player five or lower is to be killed. I don't think you would want to be banned from The World on your first day of playing, would you?" I didn't wait for an answer; I exited the café.

The sun was setting. It was getting late again. The crowd was now gone; everyone was either in the café or in the bazaars at this time of day.

I began my walk. I wondered Mac Anu aimlessly until…

"Hey!"

I stopped, now hearing the heavy strides of four feet behind me. The strides got louder, nearer, and then stopped a few feet behind me. Panting now came. "We finally…caught up…to you!"

I recognized the voices from earlier. I turned to face the Phoenix Twins. "What do you want from me?"

One of the twins sprawled himself out on the ground. "You walk fast."

The other twin was bent over with his hands on his knees. "You've got every stat that a Blade Master can have max-ed out, max-ed out."

"And why does that matter?"

The two Long Arms retrieved enough energy to get on their knees and bow.

"Teach us! Please!"

"Yeah, we want to be your apprentices!"

I gave the two players a blank stare. "You are kidding, right?"

"Please! We really need you to accept!"

"You do _not_ want to get involved with me."

They both stood suddenly.

"Do you want us to prove ourselves? We'll fight whatever monster you put in front of us!" they told me in sync.

"Go find some other player to teach you." They wouldn't be able to find another player my level; my breed of player has long become extinct.

"Let us prove ourselves." They gave me a look; determination, loyalty, desperation, envy were all wrapped into one (or rather two) look.

"Before I accept you as apprentices…you should know my name."

The twins just jumped straight up into the air, giving the other a high five. "Yes!" It was only when they landed did they think about the second part of my sentence. "All right?" they asked, curious as to why it matters.

"I am Sorma; the Winged Knight to CC Corp; the Bandit King among the newbs." I pulled from my head the hood, which hid my face.

It took the twins a little while to process the information.

"No way…"

"You _are _Sorma!"

They tapped their forearms together; I guess it was some gesture with the same meaning as a high five. They then locked arms, hopping in circles of joy.

"Oh! Yeah! We're not only being trained by a level 100 player, but by the Bandit King!"

"We're so totally going to pawn those café guys soon!"

I tilted my head slightly.

They were happy about it? Well, I guess now that they have made friends with me, they decided that they didn't have anything to fear…in some odd twin way. But then, they stopped their dance, and the heads dropped.

"We have to go now…"

"Mom caught us up past our bed time…"

Oh, the wonders of parents… I nodded. "We'll train tomorrow then when I have some extra time."

Their faces lit up again, but dimmed again when they realized that they had their mother to deal with now. The rings took away both of them; the Phoenix Twins gated out.

I don't understand why I was doing it; I don't understand why I am going to have them as apprentices. Those two certainly aren't really ones I would have first on my list of players I wanted as apprentices. Oh well, I'll figure it out later.

The necklace suddenly yanked at my neck.

"Sorma, we need to talk." Ikardis' weapons were not ready for battle. He was very calm, and seemed to have just been crying again. Yeah, he wasn't going to attack me; at least not without warning like he usually does.

Despite him not looking like he was going to attack, the Claws rested on the handle of the Fang, ready to pull the sword out just in case. "All right."

He told me the field name that we were to meet in. And then he gated out.

"I wonder what this is about…" I followed after him.

The field was covered in snow. A fortress sat on the top of a cliff also covered in snow. Snowflakes floated down from the sky like feathers down upon the land and us. Pine trees were misplaced here and there. Bushes dotted the other areas. A moon levitated in the sky above us. I remember this field.

"I need you to kill me," Ikardis said to me rather loudly.

"What are you-"

"If I die, all of this will end. Millions will be saved from the end that my existence will be sure to bring," he interrupted.

"Traps are beneath you, Ikardis."

Ikardis laughed quietly, but then straightened up. "This is no trap."

"You are telling me then that you are giving up your life, so that you don't infect me, and then indirectly cause the death of the players of The World?"

"You have everything down to the point."

Ikardis was not noble enough or bright enough to come to this conclusion by himself. "Who did you talk to that talked you into sacrificing yourself?"

"No one important." I knew Ikardis. When he said, "no one important," it meant that there was no chance of finding out. "Sorma. I die tonight no matter what. But, will you do me the honor of a last battle?" Ikardis pulled the Twilight Bracelet off his wrist, and it shattered into data and disappeared; this is when I realized the change. Ikardis was not the insane Ikardis that had suddenly come out of nowhere; this was the Ikardis that I had made friends with such a long time ago… "The Twilight Bracelet gave me too large of an advantage. Man, the thing was a tight fit anyway."

I pulled the cloak off, and tossed it aside. My set of wings swung out, almost matching the snow, which fell.

For whatever reason, the air behind Ikardis got blurry. Large, black, bat-like wings appeared on Ikardis' back. "I was told by Morgonna that the Wings of the Twilight Dragon were to be used only in the final battle."

I nodded, understanding that this _was_ the final battle.

The both of us flapped our wings, and we floated above the snow.

"Hey Sorma, you wouldn't happen to have any liquor on ya, would ya?" Ikardis smiled. "I'm going to need it." He followed this with a laugh.

I laughed a little with him, but quickly stopped myself. I pulled the Fang from its sheath, and held it diagonally in front of me.

The left blade, the other Fang swung forward from Ikardis' forearm and locked; the right blade, the Horn did the same. "Don't hold back."

I threw my sword at him. The sword spun in circles towards Ikardis; a distraction. I got behind Ikardis, and made sure that a foot Claw collided with his spine. I then caught the sword, and flew towards Ikardis again.

From the kick to his back, Ikardis had been thrown, but he quickly turned around to face me. He then threw open his wings to slow him down.

We collided, and skidded on top of the snow. We landed with our blades crossed. Our teeth were bared; we could feel the hot breath coming from the other; our blades rattled as we tried to push the other's blade out of the way and get to the throat.

"You remember when we were little? When we sucked so badly at fighting? We must have been killed a hundred times between us. And then, we found Balmung, and pleaded with him to train us," Ikardis said with a smirk.

I figured it out; the reason I accepted those two twins was because they reminded me of Ikardis and I when we had just begun. "I remember."

Ikardis slid one of his blades off my sword, and went in for a stab.

I jumped off of him before it could connect.

He then pushed off the ground with his wings, and leaped through the air at me.

Our blades came together again.

"And then, we'd come to this field with Balmung, and train for hours on end. We pulled all-nighters just to come here and train with each other," I said.

Our blades began to glow red from heat. The snow on the ground and the snow coming down from the sky melted.

"I remember." Ikardis pushed my off again.

I slid back.

Ikardis swung his blades from every direction, which I blocked with a combination of the Claws and the Fang. "When we trained, I always lost. Balmung would always praise you!" Ikardis swung both blades downwards.

The blades went diagonally across the top of my forehead, bridge of my nose, and then across my left eye. Blood came out from the two wounds; it was a good reminder that this fight was for real.

As I recovered from the wound, Ikardis grabbed me by the arm, and lifted with all his strength, and threw me straight up into the sky.

The force of the throw sent me around a hundred feet into the sky, but before I fell down to him, as he had wanted, I flapped my wings, catching myself.

Ikardis shot up from the ground to me.

I shot down at him.

Our blades came together once again. This time, a shockwave was sent through the field. It was like thunder, which blew all the clouds and snow away from us.

"Balmung always did like you most!" Ikardis spun around, kicking me.

I was sent a few feet, but quickly recovered, and propelled myself back at Ikardis. I flew a little bit above him, but it was close enough that the tip of the Fang went through Ikardis' shoulder.

Ikardis placed a hand on his new wound, and then pulled his hand up to his face to see the blood. He tilted his wings, so that he could turn. He pointed his Fang at me.

Lightning bolts suddenly streaked down at me. I fell down from the sky. I was unconscious for a few seconds, but then I pointed my Fang at the ground, which I was soon to hit. From my Fang, I shot a blast of air down at the ground. The forced from the blast sent me back up into the sky.

Ikardis greeted me with a sudden attack. He had swung each of his blades in a scissors motion, but I put my blade in the center of the two before it could be completed. "I grew to hate you for always beating me in front of Balmung. And then, the War of the Alphas event came…"

I swung my left foot Claw at him, but he turned his waist slightly, and blocked it with his knee.

"War of the Alphas was my final chance at showing everyone that I'm better. So, I chose the opposite side. We fought, and fought, and fought, but you won! Balmung was so overjoyed when he saw that you two had the same set of wings, that you two had another thing in common!" He tried to go for my head with his left blade, but I threw my arm over his wrist, locking it in my elbow. "And then you and Helba's apprentice, Muru met and became engaged! I wanted her! She was mine! But you won her over! You won again!"

We parted from each other, but came together with fists meeting the other's face. We fell from the sky. We landed hard in the snow, which was like concrete from the distance we fell. Snow burst into the sky from the impact of us falling, creating a mist. When the mist disappeared, you could see that Ikardis and I were struggling to stand, but we did it.

"When you and Muru broke up, I was so happy. I then asked her out, and I was rejected. Even if you lose one thing, you win at another, Sorma… That was the final straw. I never played The World again after that."

I had heard enough of this. "You idiot!" My energy suddenly came back to me. I ran towards him, swung my blade across his chest. I then flew a several feet into the air above Ikardis, and pinned him down to the ground with my Fang.

Ikardis was on the ground with my blade probably half in his heart; my foot rested on top of his body. His eyes were wide; he was probably in much pain, but he was still alive.

"Balmung only praised me so much to make this rivalry continue, to make you work harder, because you were lazy back then! When I beat you in the War of the Alphas event, I did it through cheating! And Muru and I decided to break up, because she revealed to me that she loved you. When she rejected you, she was only playing hard to get!" I pulled my Fang from his body.

Ikardis' body burst into flame, burning until there was nothing left of him.

I lied out on the ground. After I caught my breath, I began to think clearly. I had taken a real human life…this wasn't just some PKing. I had killed a former enemy, a rival, and a friend… In the back of my mind, I knew that Ikardis had to do it or I'd be infected, and I'd be the one killing all those people; Ikardis hadn't done it for the player's lives, he had done it for me! "For me!" I yelled up at the sky. "I remember…that I made a promise to myself…not to kill Ikardis." That night, I cried more than I will ever again…


	10. Eve of Eclipse

In this chapter, there will be various switches from character to character, which I will point out to get rid of confusion.

Man, school is really interfering with this. Sorry for the wait!

On a side note, if you have not downloaded the .hack/GU trailer yet, do so!

* * *

.hack/OMEGA

Chapter 10

Eve of the Eclipse

Ikardis

Ikardis could see nothing. He tried several times to speak, but nothing came out. Finally, his voice turned on. "Where am I?" It echoed. There was no response. "Sorma, Morgonna, Reaper, someone help me! I don't want to remain this way."

There was a noise like someone hit a key on a xylophone.

Ikardis could now see himself, a light coming down upon him from the darkness above. He looked at himself; no wound and no weapons.

Ikardis did not speak this time, but his voice still went around. "Where am I?" "I'm scared." "I can't see. Why can't I see!" "I don't like this place." "Help me." "Help me." "Help me!"

Ikardis looked around for the cause of his voice, but could see nothing beyond his little ray of light.

And then, another ray of light appeared several feet away. Dark Kite; the infected Kite; stepped into the light. A toothy smirk was on its face. "Help me," it said in Ikardis' exact voice, mimicking. Dark Kite pointed his wrist at Ikardis. The Eclipse Bracelet appeared on his wrist now, and opened up into the light flower seen before.

Ikardis smirked also. "Guess it is time for me to repeat our last battle." He attempted to have his two, forearm swords swing forward into their battle positions, but his weapons weren't there. "What..?"

Dark Kite shook his head with the same smirk. Its regular daggers shattered into data and were replaced with two daggers; the blades were now the ones Ikardis used to have, the Horn and Fang of the Twilight Dragon…these were the Weapons of the _true_ Eclipse. Two, black wings emerged from the shoulders of Dark Kite; the Wings of the Twilight Dragon; these were the Wings of the Eclipse.

"No! Kite, no!" Ikardis turned, and ran. But, in darkness, there is no running. Ikardis was running, but he got nowhere; he was still the in the same spot.

Dark Kite's smirk got bigger. From the Eclipse Bracelet, the red beam blasted at Ikardis…

Ikardis lost consciousness.

* * *

Muru

Muru sat down on the ground, panting. "Good job, Mana," she praised her Knight NPC.

The Knight stood there with its hands folded on top of the end of the sword, which it had stabbed into the ground.

_"Muru? Why is Muru here? Why did she just call me Mana?" Ikardis paused. He wondered what had happened after Dark Kite had Data Drained him, but quickly found out. "I now must live as Mana, then…" Ikardis tried to move, but couldn't. No, Ikardis would not live as Mana; Ikardis would live as a parasite; Ikardis would simply be a presence inside Mana… He tried to call out to Muru, but she did not hear him. Inside Mana, Ikardis screamed as hard as he could…trying to be heard._

* * *

Aura

"Get off!" shouted Aura, struggling to get out of Dark Kite's grip, but failing horribly. She gave off various grunts. "Get off, I said!"

"Good, Kite. You did as I wanted," said Morgonna.

Dark Kite smirked and nodded, not letting Aura go.

"So, it has come to this."

"What has it come to, Morgonna? What!"

Morgonna laughed lightly as Aura struggled more. "As you know, your knight, Sorma, has defeated my knight, Ikardis. For your crime against me, my sister, you must now be part of the grand scheme of things."

As if taking a silent sign, Kite allowed Aura to escape its grip.

Aura floated in the air, but then felt something wrap around her; she knew Morgonna's plans for her. Aura now tried to break free of the chains that bound her, but the chains now suddenly pulled her to a bed. "Morgonna, stop this! Don't you see that-" The chains now tied her down to the top of the bed.

"Aura, Key of the Twilight, you will now be the Key of the Eclipse…!"

Dark Kite sunk the infection blade into Aura's heart. When he pulled it out, the wound glowed purple; it was going to take a while for Aura to be completely infected.

Aura let out a gasp. The chains binding Aura shattered into data. Her eyes slowly closed, and she hovered above the surface of the bed.

* * *

Sorma

The twins were now much better than they were when we had begun their training earlier today. My eyes caught something in the sky. "Stop," I told the Phoenix Twins, and they took a short break.

"What is it?" one asked.

I stared up at the sky. On the edge of the sun, a small bit of moon blocked it.

"An eclipse in The World?"

"They never do that. Think it is the beginning of some event, Sorma?"

I ignored the two's comments. Unknown to me, Muru, the twins, and every other player, Aura was slowly becoming the Eve of the Eclipse.


End file.
